Rotary railway car coupler structure



United States Patent 3,220,562 ROTARY RAILWAY CAR COUPLER STRUCTURE Arthur F. Baker, Calumet City, Ill., assignor to Amsted Industries Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 22, 1964, Ser. No. 384,320

4 Claims. (Cl. 213-62) This invention relates to automatic railway car couplers and more particularly to rotary couplers adapted for use on rotary dump cars of the type commonly employed in the transportation of coal.

Prior to the use of rotary car couplers, it was necessary to uncouple each car from a train of cars to permit rotary movement of the car to an inverted position. When each car of a train of dump cars is provided with a rotary coupler engaging a fixed Coupler on an adjacent car, it is possible to rotate each car in a train of cars without uncoupling the cars.

An object of the invention resides in the provision of a rotary railway car coupler structure which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and reliable in use.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a rotary railway car coupler structure embodying means for detachably connecting the coupler shank to the head portion of a yoke to provide angular and/or rotational movements of the coupler relative to the yoke.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a rotary coupler structure in which the coupler shank is detachably connected to the yoke head by means of a draft key and locking pin.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a rotary coupler structure which is relatively easy to assemble for use, or to disassemble for repair or replacement of parts.

The invention embodies other novel features, details of construction and arrangement of parts which are hereinafter set forth in the specification and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view, partly in section, showing a rotary coupler structure embodying features of the invention, the part in section being taken along the line 1-1 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section taken along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, the rotary coupler structure is shown as comprising a conventional center sill 2 adapted to be secured to the underside of a railway car body, the sill having a top wall 3 and depending side walls 4. A striker 6 is rigidly secured at its inner end to the end of the sill and provided with a top wall 7 and depending side walls 8 having lateral anges 9. A carrier housing 11, secured to the forward end of the striker 6, contains a plurality of compression springs 12 to resiliently support a coupler carrier 13 for sliding engagement against a wear pad 14 provided on the lower side of a coupler shank 16.

A conventional automatic coupler head 17 is provided on the forward end of the shank 16 for coupling engagement with a non-rotatable coupler on an adjacent car. The inner end of the coupler shank is provided with a spherical convex surface 18 for abutting engagement against a spherical concave surface 19 formed on the front follower 21 of a conventional resilient draft gear 22 mounted within a yoke 23. The front follower 21 "ice is normally in abutting engagement against front stop lugs 24 provided on the striker 6. The draft gear 22 is provided with a rear follower 25 normally engaged against rear stop lugs 26 provided on the center sill 2, the rear follower extending between the yoke arms 27 for engagement by the back wall 28 of the yoke.

The head 29 of the yoke is slidably supported upon a yoke head carrier 31 secured to the lateral anges 9 on the striker 6 by means of rivets 32. The inner end of the yoke 23 is slidably supported on a transverse strap 33 secured to the center sill 2. The forward end of the yoke head 29 is provided with an inturned annular ange 34 having an arcuate inner surface 36 for engagement by arcuate surfaces 37 provided on a draft key 38 which normally extends vertically through an opening 39 provided in the coupler shank 16.

A locking pin 41 is mounted in aligned apertures 42 provided in the head 29 of the yoke 23 for engagement against a concave bearing surface 43 provided on the draft key 38, the pin being secured against axial displacement by means of a bolt 44 and washers 45. An opening 46 is provided in the yoke headv 29 and an opening 47 is provided in one side wall 8 of the striker 6 for the passage of the locking pin 41 and draft key 38 during assembly or disassembly of the coupler structure.

The yoke 23 is guided for longitudinal movement and engaged against rotational movement by means of guide lugs 48 provided on the striker 6 and abutment shoulders 49 provided on the yoke head carrier 31.

I claim:

1. In a rotary railway car coupler structure, a center sill having top and side Walls, a striker having top and side Walls secured to the center sill Walls, a yoke guided for axial and non-rotational movement within said center sill and striker, a resilient draft gear including front and yrear followers, fixed stop lugs engaging remote sides of said front and rear followers, said front follower having a spherical concave front surface, a coupler shank having a spherical convex end surface engaging said concave surface, said shank having a vertical opening adjacent said convex surface, a draft key extending through said opening, a locking pin extending horizontally through aligned openings in the coupler shank and engaging the back surface of said draft key, said yoke having an internal annular abutment wall engaged by the ends of the draft key.

2. A- rotary railway car coupler structure according to claim 1 in which said draft gear yieldably resists movement of the draft key out of engagement with said abutment wall.

3. A rotary railway car coupler structure according to claim 2 in which the draft key is formed with arcuate convex surfaces in complementary engagement against diametrically opposed surfaces on said abutment wall.

4. A rotary railway car coupler structure according to claim 3 in which said draft key is provided with an arcuate bearing surface engaging said locking pin.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,497,329 6/ 1924 Goodall 213-14 2,271,907 2/ 1942 Wilson 213-60 2,347,890 5/ 1944 Dath 213-9 2,431,864 12/1947 Dean 213-61 2,973,105 2/ 1961 yMetzger 213-61 2,990,962 7/ 1961 Nystrom 213-62 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A ROTARY RAIL CAR COUPLER STRUCTURE, A CENTER SILL HAVING TOP AND SIDE WALLS, A STRIKER HAVING TOP AND SIDE WALLS SECURED TO THE CENTER SILL WALLS, A YOKE GUIDED FOR AXIAL AND NON-ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT WITHIN SAID CENTER SILL AND STRIKER, A RESILIENT DRAFT GEAR INCLUDING FRONT AND REAR FOLLOWERS, FIXED STOP LUGS ENGAGING REMOTE SIDES OF SAID FRONT AND REAR FOLLOWERS, SAID FRONT FOLLOWER HAVING A SPHERICAL CONCAVE FRONT SURFACE, A COUPLER SHANK HAVING A SPHERICAL CONVEX END SURFACE ENGAGING SAID CONCAVE SURFACE, SAID SHANK HAVING A VERTICAL OPENING ADJACENT SAID CONVEX SURFACE, A DRAFT KEY EXTENDING THROUGH SAID OPENING, A LOCKING PIN EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY THROUGH ALIGNED OPENINGS IN THE COUPLER SHANK AND ENGAGING THE BACK SURFACE OF SAID DRAFT KEY, SAID YOKE HAVING AN INTERNAL ANNULAR ABUTMENT WALL ENGAGED BY THE ENDS OF THE DRAFT KEY. 